Covid Cruise The Story Just Seems To Get Worse
I think this will upset a number of my travel writing, cruise loving colleagues.
Whom I think are trying to swim against the tide of Covid19.
And paint an upbeat picture of cruising.
Whereas in reality the picture is pretty bleak!
Covid cruise collapse. CMV went bust and ceased trading.
Three Cruise Ships With Covid Infections
With now even more fresh Covid cases coming to light on recent cruises. This is exactly what I feared would happen in this sector in particular. Hurtigruten ship had 41 with Covid infections off Norway. Paul Gauguin Cruises vessel identified a case in the Pacific. UnCruise Adventures from Seattle had a passenger with positive Covid test after a visit to Alaska. Sea Dream 1 operating out of Norway had a Danish passenger from a previous cruise test positive. It’s current cruise has been curtailed with passengers being told to stay in their cabins.
UnCruise Adventures ship off Alaska had a Covid case identified.
And, although I have limited experience of cruising. I do have genuineness in my thoughts.
RMS Queen Mary 2 flagship of Cunard Line, centre, P&O ships Aurora front and its sister ship Ventura in Weymouth Bay.
Picture by Paul Hoskins/Eagle Vista
That cruising could be dead in the water for months to come! And not only for my colleagues but those cruising fanatics too.
Am I wrong? I hope I am. Just trying to be totally realistic in my appraisal of the situation.
There are dozens proposed times and dates for ‘after Covid19’ travel and cruising to start again flashing around on the internet.
Have We Jumped the Gun ?
Some cruise ships are off and running with passengers already jetting off to European and Mediterranean destinations. News of delays with Carnival Cruises in the US coming through only today. CLIA have suspended their operations from the US until the October 31st.
As a travel writer I want desperately to travel but it does need to be done safely.
Royal Caribbean International’s Harmony of the Seas on a visit to Southampton UK.
However, I feel the reality is that many have jumped the gun and headed off with the mindset that its over let’s get to the beach or onto that boat.
And here in Dorset we saw…any beach will do! Certainly, the likes of beaches at Durdle Door or Bournemouth were both swamped to point where it was obvious that it was unsafe health wise
Sister ship to MS Roald Amundsen the cruise ship that had 41 Covid cases. CC Norway Dev
An individual’s Covid health risk on any type of travel be that here in the UK or abroad, well it’s down to each person to take responsibility for it. And not to shunt the blame around if they have been inconvenienced.
Understanding All The Risks Of Covid Travel
It’s important to be fully aware of all the possible problems you could encounter, whilst on the road and away from home.
Loving travel as I do. I fully understand that if I do journey outside of the UK or even within it then there is a risk that at some point, I may have to face a period of quarantine or get caught up in a local look down. And that should be factored into any travel plans.
Cruise ship in dock at St George’s, Grenada in the West Indies.
Putting aside the politics the Spanish situation. That is a typical the example of the complications that we all may have to face.
Treating travel as we did pre-Covid just cannot be applied until we get a vaccine that beats the current Coronavirus.
The Experience Of Cruising Will Not Be As It Was
This is a picture for cruising for example. The experience you may have enjoyed before will just not be the same going forward.
Masks for you, plus your fellow passengers and crew. Keeping 1.5 metres away from non-family members.
Personally, I don’t think that will be easy in some of the long corridors and gangways even with one-way systems. Shopping, cafe and bar areas with restricted numbers can be a plus, but loss of atmosphere surely?
Every transfer to shore or generally moving around the ship will require masks.
Cruise ship tender from the P&O ship Aurora. The crew are wearing face masks due to the current Covid19 pandemic.
Age cohorts will mean passengers to be organized or possibly divided into age groups for activities.
Your mini bar and tea and coffee making facilities will go!
Getting on and off ships will be a much different process add in masks, distancing and testing.
Here is a quote from the document: Advises to remove any item that can’t be cleaned and disinfected between cruises. Such as menus, magazines, coffee/ tea packaging and mini-bar products.
This will also apply to coffee makers and kettles. Disposable covers be placed over TV and the air-conditioning remote controls to allow proper disinfection.
Every trip to the fitness suite (socially distanced of course) will be recorded along with other areas of entertainment on the ship. Indoor swimming pool visits will be a no no!
Meeting Other Passengers And Crew Or Distance?
Meeting any other people on ship and shore-based visits to be limited. One of the pluses of cruising is that interaction with other passengers and crew. The safer aim now will be to distance yourself!
Will that make for a great cruising experience? I do not think so!
Cruise ship transfer the crew are wearing face masks due to the current Covid19 pandemic.
Shipping lines and terminal operators are to ensure distancing inside their facilities. Also, they should consider limiting the number of taxis and coaches at pick-ups to prevent crowding. Plus, disinfection of all luggage.
Getting back onto the ship with health screening will all be part of the new normal.
The Regulations And Rules Of A Covid Cruise
If you still think I am being negative then I suggest you read this 50page document issued by Health Gateways and the European Union:
I think without doubt your cruise experience will be impacted by these regulations. And, if you are happy put up with all those changes and new requirements…then please cruise away.
Talks of travel being affected out to 2024 is not outlandish!
Multiple cruise ships being beached and broken up on foreign shores plus whole cruise companies going to the wall. Rumours of Cunard ships to be sold?
This to me does not seem like the actions of a business that thinks it will all be over by next year?
My video of ten, yes ten cruise ships off my home town of Weymouth does seem to show what a state the whole industry seems to be in?
Should we get yet more ship-borne cruise Covid infections then that has the potential to kill cruising for years to come.
Alternative Ideas For Covid Cruise Customers
Alternative ideas perhaps about much smaller ships with smaller passenger numbers. Nevertheless, I cannot see the numbers stacking up for the general cheaper types of cruises on offer.
Filling up huge cruise ships. ‘Pile it high sell it cheap’ just cannot work? If you cannot pile it high first?
I still fail to see many older cruisers urgently wanting to get back on board. Yes, there will be those who say “hell or high water I am going cruising”.
Some may be in their 80’s. Quoting, I would rather die on a Covid cruise than be stuck at home in the winter.
That current more elderly group will I think turn away and make alternative arrangements in order to explore new challenges.
However, if they still have disposable cash to hand then they are likely to want to try to find another outlet for that travel desire. Rather, than being contained within the cruise ship environment.
A tailor made trip as an alternative to a cruise?
Maybe, more tailored individual type of holidays, are the way for them? Perhaps an opening for the smaller mini-coach operators or chauffeur transport sector?
Any travel planning is really out of our hands. And to think that you just turn up at the local TUI or Hays shop book a holiday and that’s it. Well it’s not!
The health of all of us has to come first surely before that of any individual’s freedom travel where and whenever they want to?
A risk that I am taking soon myself for research. Travelling through an air bridge to a country with a very low infection rate. By the way not a Mediterranean clubbing destination complete with packed bars and beaches.
Responsible Tourism Starts With Responsible Tourists
Currently booking any flight, train trip, cruise, hotel or B&B is fraught with risks and any of us doing so needs to be totally aware of that. An image of Falmouth packed with tourists on a damp day is an example.
‘Applying the brakes if we have to’ was the phrase used in the UK if Covid spikes were found to be returning. Which has now happened in places around the UK and across the world.
Additionally, there are talks of a second wave, third waves, even forth waves before we get that vaccine in a year or so. If at all?
A river cruise to Vienna next Christmas ? Typical scene taken Christmas 2019.
Secondly, its still summer with drier weather. Thirdly, Covid infection rates in the Autumn and Winter wet periods have yet to come?
These are still massive unknowns. And to think that Covid will not re-emerge in greater numbers should not be ruled out.
Here, where I live the figures have been very low and we hope and pray that it will continue.
However, we still all need to understand that to make any decision about travel is our choice and it could be disrupted by Covid or its associated risks at any time!
Factors like insurance too. Or lack of it, for what you want covered and costs for those risks that you are looking for. What can you claim for if your travel does get disrupted?
In conclusion, theses are answers you will need to know before any trip!
Travel right now and in the coming months and years is going to be a health, a financial, even a potential psychological and emotional risk for us all.
I hope I am wrong or am I just a realist?
